


History Was Written by the Winners

by WhisperedWords12



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Not Hockey Player(s), Fluff, M/M, Not A Student-Teacher Relationship, Pre-Slash, Student!Sid, Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-12
Updated: 2016-05-12
Packaged: 2018-06-07 22:20:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6827533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhisperedWords12/pseuds/WhisperedWords12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A seven hour train ride home. A pile of homework. A seat mate who Sid swears on his life is reading and commenting on his assignments over his shoulder. What else could go wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	History Was Written by the Winners

Sid climbed onto the train going back home, already weary of the seven hour journey ahead of him.

It was March Break. Despite the school dubbing it a “study break”, Sid was taking advantage of the time off to go visit his family. The only problem about attending school in the states was that it didn’t allow for a quick visit home. On top of that was a mountain of homework, which he'd hoped to be able to do as much as possible on the train ride so that it wouldn't overly interfere with his visit.

He found his spot, thankfully by the window, and tucked away his travel bag in the compartment above his head. He settled in, placing his carry on bag on the empty seat next to him while he got all of his things together.

Sid was almost done organizing himself when someone made an impatient sound next to him. He looked up to see a man, maybe five years older than him, scowling slightly at the mess sprawled out across the space.

Sid swallowed and began shoving everything between his feet. “Sorry,” he murmured softly, embarrassed. “I was just trying to… I was just putting it away.”

The man said nothing, just tucked his bag in the overhead. He was definitely Sid’s seatmate for the next seven hours and Sid had already managed to make a poor impression. He finally got everything put away.

The man sat down. Sid peaked at him from the corner of his eye, taking in his neatly combed hair and smart, comfortable attire. The man was about his height, with a slightly slimmer build. Sid had just been going for comfortable when he chose this morning's outfit for the long train ride.

After that, there was only silence between them. Sid fidgeted for about thirty minutes, staring out the window as the landscape whizzed past, before finally giving up.

His bag was between his feet, meaning he had to spread his legs to reach it. His knee knocked against the stranger’s. The man didn’t react, but Sid sputtered out more quiet apologies that went unanswered. Sid tried not to sigh as he finally got his laptop loose.

The laptop played a song as it turned on, filling the train car. The stranger next to him closed his eyes. A knot formed in Sid’s stomach but he was too far in to stop now. He drew up one of the essays he had to do for his university class and began working on it.

The clacking of keys was thunderous to his own ears. Terrified that he was being too loud, he paused, flexing his fingers, looking around anxiously. He peeked over at the stranger.

Sid was startled. The man’s eyes were focused on Sid’s laptop screen. Feeling his gaze, the man looked up at Sid. His expression was neutral as he turned to look around the car innocently.

Sid swallowed, feeling suddenly self conscious. He dragged the main document to a smaller size, rearranging the windows so the outline was closer to the stranger's side. Sid adjusted the font to a size so small he had to strain his eyes to see it properly. There was no way that the stranger next to him could read it. 

Sid continued his work. He had most of it finished, the paper summarizing what they had learned in the first part of their semester with a special focus on relating it to a war of their choosing. He hoped to have it finished, read over and corrected by the time the train rolled into the station.

He heard a small sound of disappointment next to him. Sid looked over at the stranger at the same time that the stranger looked away, disapproval clear across his face. Sid bit his lip and turned himself back to his work. There was no way that the man could be making the noise at him. Sid was being respectful, typing as quietly as he could, his screen brightness lowered, his body controlled and limited to his seat.

Another twenty minutes passed. The train rumbled and swayed. The man was reading a book now, which was a relief to Sid. He hoped that in reading, the man would be less drawn to the things that Sid was doing.

The train turned a bend. He felt his body swaying with it. The man’s shoulder bumped against his. The contact was enough to distract Sid, who had never been good with touching and being touched. It was soon broken as the train started back on a straighter course.

“What?” the man muttered next to him.

Sid looked over at him to find the stranger's eyes fixed on Sid’s paper. Sid turned his laptop slightly away from the stranger, who finally noticed that Sid was watching him.

The man stared at him, leaning slightly forwards to get a better view of the paper. Sid was too stunned to do anything. A couple of tense moments passed. Finally the man leaned back. “I think you’ve cast a very one-sided opinion over your paper,” the man said softly, putting the book back up to his face. There was the softest hint of a French accent in his voice.

Sid gaped at him. Furious, he turned back to his paper. The asshole was more than a couple years older then Sid was, definitely out of university. Who was he to judge Sid’s work without knowing what the course or paper was even about?

Sid finished typing his paper as loudly as possible, no longer trying to be quiet as he typed. When he finished that, he scrolled up to the top to reread it. The man lowered his book. Sid tried to ignore him as he began going over his work. 

Sid turned his laptop away from the man. As hard as he tried, he wasn’t able to focus on the words on the page. Sid flashed a glare at the stranger, only to find that the man was no longer looking at the laptop, but openly staring at him. Sid flushed and ducked his head.

The stranger sighed and turned his attention back to his book. It wasn’t much easier to focus, Sid could practically feel the stranger’s presence next to him. Sid bit his lip and set himself to focus on his paper. 

Just as he was getting into it, the concessions cart passed. Sid had been so caught up that he hadn’t noticed. He looked up to see the woman pushing the cart almost at the end of the train car. Sid cursed and rooted around for his wallet, the laptop awkwardly balanced on his knee.

He stood fast, causing the man next to him to jump in surprise. Sid didn’t really blame him, feeling a little disoriented himself with his wallet in one hand, laptop in the other. In the cramped space, Sid maneuvered himself around and put the laptop on the seat. Then he looked at the man to move. The man looked confused, but swung his legs around to offer Sid more room.

Sid sighed and tried to squeeze past him. The train bumped as it speed into a tunnel and Sid lost his balance.

Sid yelped, falling backwards onto the stranger’s lap. It was dark and Sid scrambled to get up. The stranger, who must have assumed by Sid's squirming that he was falling further, dragged him more securely onto his lap. Sid's breath hitched as his back made contact with the stranger's chest. The train made another turn, causing Sid to slide in the stranger's lap, drawing a hiss out of the man.

“Calm down, kid.” The man said, his hands tightening to keep Sid in place. 

“I’m fine,” Sid hissed back, but it lacked real bite. The hands holding onto his sides were warm and supporting. 

The stranger let him go as the tracks straightened back out.

Sid pulled himself off his lap. In the darkness, Sid was sure he could see the man smirking. Sid was glad that the dim lighting hid his blush. 

He bought a drink and snack from the cart and made his way back to his seat. Sid gapped when he got back. The man had his laptop balanced on his knees, staring intensely at the screen.

The sound Sid made, to put it lightly, was unattractive. The man looked up sharply and stood, still holding on to the laptop, scrolling through it. Sid squeaked as he slid back into his seat. He yanked the laptop from the man’s hands. “Who the fuck do you think you are?” Sid whispered in disbelief.

The man rolled his eyes, “Claude.” He stuck out his hand, but Sid ignored it. The man sighed and very smoothly extended it to turn the screen back towards him.

Sid was flabbergasted. “No, no way.”

The man—Claude—just snorted. “Calm down. It’s good. It could be better.”

Sid frowned, “How would you know?”

They had begun leaning closer to each other. Sid noticed that the man was missing a tooth. Who lost teeth like that these days? Pirates. Fucking pirates. The man was rough looking enough, his beard had red in it, but he was too well kept to be really pirate-like. Sid knew he was just being mean at this point, pissed off that a complete stranger was invading his privacy and cramping his space.

The man looked both patient and mocking, “I teach, you idiot. I’m in the history department at the university not far from the train station.”

Sid frowned, “Doesn’t mean you understand anything about what I’m studying.”

The man shrugged. Sid didn’t like giving him a name. The man hadn’t earned a proper name, despite having offered one. “I know of this particular war. You’re writing too one-sidedly on this. There are two sides to every war and you’re not challenging why the other side was wrong, you’re just stating what happened. There’s no way that’s what your teacher want.”

Sid stared at him. He didn’t want to see the smug look on his face if Sid admitted that he was right. They stared at each other. Finally Sid sighed and pulled up the project outline, “How can I fix it?”

They spent the next two hours hunched over the screen. It was now perched between then on one knee each, their knees gently touching. Sid had been uncomfortable at first but before long it had turned into an almost reassuring presence. They went through the essay together, taking it apart and challenging it in order to make it stronger. 

Claude ended up knowing more than Sid thought he would. It turns out he shared an office with Sid’s teacher. “So if I cite you in my work, he’d know who you are?”

Claude smiled mischievously, “Oh yeah, he’d know.” 

Sid frowned, “Do you get along?” 

Claude turned back to the essay. “We don’t always agree, but I think he’d find it very interesting to see my name on this as a reference.”

Sid groaned, “If I fail this I now know where your office is and I will find you.”

Claude looked over at him. He smirked, “I look forward to it.”

Sid couldn’t explain why that smile made his heart jump. Before he could say anything that could have gotten him into trouble, he turned back to the essay. Claude leaned in closer and watched Sid type.

The train ride flew by. Eventually Sid got up to go to the bathroom. Claude put a guiding hand on his hip as Sid squeezed by. Sid wanted to protest almost as much as he enjoyed the contact. In the end he said nothing, just left Claude alone with the laptop.

Sid’s face was flushed and he stayed holed up in the tiny stall way longer than he’d really needed to, waiting for the colour to fade. Claude said nothing when he returned, just handed over the laptop.

In neatly typed letters at the bottom of the essay was Claude’s name under references:

_Giroux, Claude. Expert Opinion, Department of History. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 2016. Personal Interview._

Sid smiled when he saw it “Does that mean it’s finished?” 

Claude nodded, “Pretty much. Make sure to read it over just for spelling in a day or two.” He suddenly looked serious, “That’s important, Sid. Don’t forget.”

Sid rolled his eyes. “Alright, I won’t forget.”

Claude looked satisfied. 

They talked quietly for the rest of the trip, exchanging information about themselves. Sid told him about how be was getting a Bachelors degree in History, but had no clue what he was going to do with it yet.

Claude smirked at that, “Don’t worry, I’m still trying to figure out what to do with mine.” 

Sid smiled and listened to Claude tell him about the teachers he’d had, what he should take and which courses to avoid. He was now teaching part time at the university while working on his Masters degree.

Sid told him of how he played on the university’s hockey team. Claude had ripped into him a bit for that. There’s no way a boy studying History could possibly make the hockey team.

Sid frowned, “I’m on the team. I led them in scoring this year.”

Claude had scoffed, “Can’t be any good if I haven’t heard of you. I was on that team when I was in school.”

“A hundred years ago?”

Claude shot him a look. “No. Five or six.” He admitted.

Sid smirked, “You’re a dinosaur.” 

Claude shrugged. “You can find me in the team pictures in the hall. I was captain.” He said, looking smug.

Sid shifted his body so he was facing Claude more, “I’m hoping to make Captain next year. They don’t let first years be captain.”

Claude blinked, “This is your first year?”

Sid nodded.

Claude frowned, “You’re taking a pretty advanced course for a first year student.”

Sid shrugged, “I’m doing alright.”

Claude hummed in agreement. 

An overhead announcement startled them both, informing the passengers that the estimated time of arrival was in 15 minutes. Sid sighed and started saving and closing all of his applications, putting the laptop in his bag. Likewise, Claude made sure all of his things were in order. 

They were quiet as the train pulled into the station. Claude bumped Sid with his knee, “Come see me when you get your grade back. You know where to find me.”

Sid nodded. “I will.”

The train rocked as it pulled into its stop. Claude stood and pulled both of their bags down, handing Sid his. Sid smiled in thanks.

They climbed out of the train together. Outside on the platform, his sister and mother were waving enthusiastically at him from across the platform.

Sid groaned loudly. Claude looked at him, smiling. “I assume they are here for you?” 

Sid buried his face in his hands and nodded.

Claude smiled, “Well, it was a pleasure. Make sure to read your paper over one more time before you print and submit it.”

“Yes sir,” Sid said, then blushed.

Claude seemed unfazed by Sid’s response, offering Sid his hand. Sid shook it, his eyes lowered shyly.

Then, just like that, they went their separate ways. Sid tried not to stare at Claude’s back as he walked away.

___________________________________________

Unknown 7:21pm  
Are you fucking kidding me?

Claude 7:21pm  
I’m sorry, who is this?

Unknown 7:21pm  
You actually wrote your phone number into my essay.

Unknown 7:21pm  
What if I had submitted it like that???

Claude 7:22pm  
Ah, Sid. I told you to proof read it.

Sid 7:22pm  
I hate you.

Claude 7:29pm  
Enjoying your break?

Sid 7:29pm  
…

Sid 7:29pm  
Yes.

Sid 7:29pm  
You?

Claude 7:30pm  
Yes.

Claude 7:30pm  
How would you feel about getting lunch with me when we get back?

Sid 7:30pm  
…

Sid 7:30pm  
That doesn’t sound awful.

 

[end]

**Author's Note:**

> Come chat with me on [tumblr!](https://whisperedwordsofhockey.tumblr.com)


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